In the very first lines of the most current "Apache Avro™ 1.8.2 Specification," beginners are greeted with a plethora of types of Avro types, most of them undefined (as in "there's no English language definition provided"): primitive Avro types, derived Avro types, complex Avro types, and defined Avro types. As such, one is naturally tempted to make several assumptions, given the meaning of these qualifiers outside of the world of Avro, assumptions that may not be correct. Here is the assumption that I am tempted to make:
There are two disjoint classes of Avro types: primitive on the one hand, and derived/defined/complex on the other. Is this assumption correct? If not, please take the time to clarify these terms by providing English language definitions--ideally standard *genus-differentia *definitions. And while at it, please clarify the meaning of this sentence too: "Primitive type *names *are also defined type *names*" (my emphasis). Does that mean that primitive types = defined types? Thank you, C -- "People think that I must be a very strange person. This is not correct. I have the heart of a small boy. It is in a glass jar on my desk." -- Stephen King
